Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1,000 years stuns archaeologists

National Geographic ^ | 03/04/2019 | Gena Steffans

[sphinx]

I’ve done it a couple of times. A looooong time ago. It’s a good thing to have crossed off on one’s bucket list. If it’s on yours, don’t put it off too long. Arthritic and fat is not good in crawlways.

[FatherFig1o155]

I’ve done it once.

Once.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Looks like a scratch and dent sale at South of the Border.

[DeFault User]

Climbing the pyramid at chichen itza was enough for me. Acrophobia kicked in; besides the claustrophobia in caves would be unbearable.

[sphinx]

Most of it wasn’t too bad, but the section where it was too tight to take a deep breath was a bit uncomfortable.

[Leep]

They were really really short back then.

[sparklite2]

I hope they find some codices the murderously obtuse, but highly religious, Conquistadors might have failed to destroy.

[JimRed]

Those artifacts are broken. If they were put there unbroken, someone has visited the cave and vandalized them. Question is, when? A year ago, 100 years ago, 500 years ago...?

[lurk]

I got wedged in a half mile down in a cave, with a mountain on my back and a mountain on my chest. Just reading about belly crawling in this article brought on a stress reaction.

[YogicCowboy]

Kilroy was a shipyard builder. He put his mark in places that then got covered by plates and such.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

[piasa]

Th Mayans probably had some easy entrance the archaeologists have not yet discovered, maybe hidden by a fallen rock.

[piasa]

A lot of New World cultures ceremonially break objects before burying them. Lets the spirit out...